Homemade Peanut Butter Cups (no refined sugars!)

It really sneaks up on you, doesn’t it? It always catches me by surprise when it’s in March. I just feel like it’s an April holiday, ya know?

Although it has nothing at all to do with Jesus, one of the biggest parts of Easter for many (including us Jesus-lovers) is the chocolate! In my house growing up we always had the usual egg hunt with annual new jammies and a chocolate bunny, and a book. I loved it.

Whether it’s spiritual or just for fun – I want my kids to have some treats for Easter too. Unfortunately the usual Easter candy that you buy in stores is not so great for us. I’m not saying a little bit of sugar once in a while is gonna kill ya.

Unfortunately, however, that candy is not just a little bit of sugar. Between the high-fructose corn syrup and the regular sugar (often both are ingredients in the same product) most conventional chocolate and candy is pretty unhealthy. Then there are the artificial colours and dyes – those things have been proven to affect children’s behaviour – drastically in some cases.

It’s definitely a personal decision – even among the natural living/real food communities, some choose to go the conventional route for a rare occasion. For our family I choose to do what I can to make healthier treats that taste amazing (usually better!) that aren’t full of junk. (And yes, we compromise at other times in other areas!)

Anyway, on to the healthy decadence that I’m currently enjoying. I first got the idea of these when I saw a pin on Pinterest of fudge that was made in muffin cups. I thought of making my own peanut butter cups, so I played around and came up with something pretty darn yummy.

The chocolate part is based off a recipe I got from a friend (without a source given) so I googled it. I found that it was pretty well the same as this recipe on my friend Mindy’s blog (it’s a small interweb, I guess), and she based it off of The Nourishing Gourmet’s recipe, who based hers off of Sally Fallon’s in Nourishing Traditions! The peanut butter part I just totally made up, hoping it would work out (which, ohmygosh did it ever!)

1. Melt and stir all chocolate ingredients together over low heat.
2. In a separate pot, mix and stir all peanut butter filling ingredients together over low heat.
3. Prepare a muffin tin with muffin papers. I used mini muffin papers. (It made just over a dozen).
4. Pour some chocolate into each cup – less than half full.
5. Freeze for 15 minutes.
6. Spoon some peanut butter mixture on top of each frozen chocolate cup. Smooth it down to get into the cracks of the muffin paper so that it looks pretty. If you care about that sorta thing.
7. Freeze for 15 minutes.
8. Pour more chocolate on top of each cup to finish off.
9. Freeze for 15 minutes.
10. Once they are nice and firm, go ahead and store them in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer. They’ll stay fresh longer than it’ll take you to eat them! Enjoy!

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I'm Beth. I created Red & Honey because I'm obsessed with the wild art of wellness.

About Beth

Beth is the creator and editor here at Red & Honey, a lifestyle blog for the naturally-minded homemaker. She recently began a passionate love affair with coffee and her life will never be the same. She has had three babies in less than four years, is a professional laundry-avoider, and loves to stay up way too late making weird stuff from scratch that normal people tend to just buy in a store. Hence, the coffee. Read more posts by Beth.

Comments

Hi, I made these this weekend and they turned out fine, but i was wondering if you would be able to recommend some other oil, other than coconut , for the chocolate? I found the coconut a bit off-putting with the chocolate. thanks.

I veganized these by using agave nectar in place of the honey and they were delicious! I planned to make them for my co-workers from Christmas gifts but quickly realized that the coconut oil makes them melt rapidly….do you think using a non-dairy butter (i.e. Earth Balance) would be an okay substitute for the coconut oil?

These taste absolutely amazing!!! They are soooo addictive. I used crunchy peanut butter and liked the added texture. I’m going to try adding Rice Crispies to the middle layer next time for some extra crunch.

Brilliant! I make that same recipe often and it is always enjoyed! I had thought about doing a layer of peanut butter too and now I’m so glad to have your recipe! Maybe I could even make some little eggs for Easter:).

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